Review of Calen Morelli's "Function 9"

Taking magic to the streets, David Blaine style, in "Function 9," Calen Morelli offers first rate effects that employ cards, water bottles, cell phones, rubber bands and more. Some routines are practical for walk-around and restaurants, but many work best "on the street."

Taking magic to the streets, David Blaine style, in “Function 9,” Calen Morelli offers first rate effects that employ cards, water bottles, cell phones, rubber bands and more. Some routines are practical for walk-around and restaurants, but many work best “on the street.”

Jumping Cards
In “VGH,” which stands for “visual grass hopper,” a spectator’s selected card jumps from the deck to between some cards in your hands and then ends-up between cards that are tightly held by the spectator. The fun in this effect is the visual nature in which the spectator’s selected card is “magnetized” and seemingly slides in and out of the card “sandwiches.” As the title implies, this routine is Morelli’s take on Paul Harris' “Grasshopper” effect.

Here’s a great street routine. In “Pen and Bottle,” you produce a bottle of water from your shoe and then a pen immediately jumps inside the bottle. Spectators can examine the bottle, however, due to the method, you can’t give the bottle away as a souvenir.

There’s some gimmicking ahead of time but once you have the materials, it can probably be done in half an hour. You can find the necessary materials in hardware stores and purchase them for under five dollars. This routine is visual and while it works on the street, it can also work in some stand-up situations as well.

"Transport" offers a routine where a spectator holds your cell phone, and as you hold the spectator’s phone, you wrap a rubber band around it. At the appointed moment, the rubber band vanishes from around the spectator’s cell phone that you’re holding and ends up on your cell phone that’s held by the spectator. This one has a daring method that can reap rewards.

In “Suspected,” you hang one rubber band off of a second rubber band and part of the second band vanishes and leaves the first band hanging, suspended in air. It’s a fast, visual effect with a clever method. It’s the kind of effect that happens in a flash and has spectators asking for you to “do it again.”

Like Morelli, I was a big fan of James Brown’s “Professional Opportunist” (in my opinion, one of the best products of 2010). On his DVD, Brown taught a killer “card under box” routine. What Morelli has done with Brown’s “Loaded” routine is brilliantly adapt it for performance on the street.

Here, a spectator’s selected and signed card ends up under your shoe - you’re actually standing on it. And in the stunning second phase, the deck vanishes in your hands and ends up under your shoe. I applaud the innovation here and Morelli has indeed created a powerful routine that you can perform for a group of spectators. Morelli also teaches a version where the magic occurs in a baseball cap that is equally as strong.

“Friction” offers a rubber band through bill routine. What makes this one stand out is the way that the bill slowly passes through the rubber band. The method reminds me a bit of a ring through rubber band routine, and, more specifically, a powerful version by Danny Garcia. But the routine is convincing and visual.

In “Sugar Free,” a piece of gum jumps from a blister pack of gum into your mouth. The gimmicking of the pack is somewhat involved, but it’s clever and efficient.

The final effect is Morelli’s “Transit.” Here an ordinary rubber band is wrapped around your finger and it visually jumps from finger to finger. For this, you’ll have to make a gimmick, but the materials should be available at your local office store for a few dollars. And you’ll be able to make the gimmick in 20 minutes. Interestingly, Morelli has sold this routine in a kit that comes with materials through Theory 11. Given a choice, I would go with this DVD as the better value.

In Function 9, Calen Morelli shows a knack for creating clever and visual material. Look for more in the future from this brilliant mind.